Merry Christmas everyone! I got the chapter done a full week earlier than I planned, so here it is!
We're getting to the end of things now, so with any luck this fanfic will be labelled as "complete" by the end of January.
Seasons greetings and happy holidays to everyone!
Chapter 10 – War for the Wolfmate
The search for Rei had continued through the night and into the next day, but there was no sign of her or Diamond. In fact since Darien had slain the six Damned in the campus park that had dared to come after Serena, there had not been a single peep from the Damned. There was no sign of them, they did not even seem to be hunting as not even a single victim or body had surfaced in over twenty-four hours.
Darien knew this was not a good sign, with more Damned in the area than ever there should have been a significant rise in the number of missing and slain mortals, but all was silent.
All the Damned were lying low and that only lead him to one possible conclusion. It was the silent calm before the storm. Something big was coming and Darien knew it would happen soon; Diamond would not show patience now after Serena had slipped through his fingers. Diamond would want her now more than ever. Darien had been hunting the Damned King for so long, centuries, and he knew Diamond better than he liked.
But unlike the past centuries, Darien now had something precious to him that he could not survive losing. He was afraid for his mate and his pack – and terrified for his sister – but he kept it from his eyes, choosing instead to wear the expressionless mask he had spent the majority of his life perfecting. He had been too long without a mate before he had found Serena and near the end he had been closer to the edge than he had been willing to admit, but now he could see just how close he had been to the brink, to falling into Damnation.
And now that he was finally free of that burden, now that he finally had his salvation, the risk of losing everything was greater than ever. He wanted to get Serena out of there, take her to someplace safe, but transporting her now was too dangerous; already Diamond had shown his capability of preventing them from running.
The number of Immortals at the manor continued to rise steadily as more and more Lycaon kind arrived at the call of their Prince to protect Serena, their first reason to hope in centuries. The four dozen highly trained Lycaon soldiers his father had sent had arrived just before dawn's light had touched the horizon – half had joined the search for Rei while the other half remained to protect the manor and the mortal woman they had been sent to protect.
So much had happened since Darien had found his mate, and not all of it had been bad, but now because he had not handled things differently – he should have scent Serena to England the moment he had realised Diamond was in the city – his own pack faced a graver peril than ever before.
Judging by the number of Damned flowing into the city, the pack would be outnumbered by at least two to one and Darien had already seen the outcome of that scenario; he had lost four brave soldiers in Diamond's ambush, two Lycaon and two of the guarding Anami – whose bodies he had already returned to Andrew with his personal and sincerest condolences.
The only small comfort was that none of the four had been mated; no Immortal females would take their own lives rather than live their hollow lives in agony as a result of the ambush. But such was the way of the Immortal world.
To make his emotional burden even harder to bear was that all three of his Betas, his brothers, were in pain.
Zoicite was up and about. All but his jaw and the vampiric bite were completely healed. There was no sign of the bruise that had swollen Zoicite's eyes shut or the deep claw marks that had streaked his back. However his jaw had been severely damaged, almost completely dislodged from his head, and while he was not yet able to speak or eat anything that was not in liquid form at least his jaw no longer hung limp. It was healing; he would be able to start talking again – slurred mumbling to start with – hopefully by the end of the day.
But the Damned Anami bite was another story, even with the assistance of Lycaon healing saliva the bite would never completely heal. The bite wound had closed enough that it was no longer bleeding, but it would be at least a few weeks before the bite was near completely healed, although he would carry the scar for life. Nothing but time could heal the bite from an Immortal Anami; while the saliva of a Lycaon healed, the venom in the saliva of an Anami kept the wound open and flowing – it aided their consumption of blood in preventing clotting and healing.
The scar would be one of dozens all Lycaon warriors carried.
Nephlite was still recovering, but this morning he had been able to move without assistance. The slashes that had marred his face were now completely gone, along with the rest of the wounds upon his flesh, but his wrist and leg still needed more time. Badly broken bones healed in a matter of days but Nephlite's wrist had been shattered by a vicious Anami attack during the ambush in which he had faced odds of three against one, and it would be another few days before he would once again have full use of it.
His leg however had been all but shredded right down to the bone that had also been shattered in near half a dozen places. Almost half of the flesh of his leg had either been shredded, damaged to the point that it had needed to be removed, or was completely torn away, the wound had been inflicted by the long razor sharp pointy teeth and claws of a Damned Lycaon.
It was fortunate for Nephlite that his artery had not been severed; it was not a common thing for an Immortal to die by bleeding out but it was not impossible.
It would be at least a week before Nephlite would be able to walk on both legs again and even longer before he would be able to walk without a limp.
Darien had already made a mental note that once all of this was over that all three of his Beta's would be amply rewarded for all that they had done to protect their Alpha's mate. Zoisite and Nephlite had not hesitated to risk their lives to protect Serena; he would always be in their debt.
But while Nephlite and Zoisite had grave wounds from the ambush, Jadeite's wounds ran much deeper. His mate had been taken and was currently in the hands of their cruellest enemy, and to make matters worse for him, Diamond was preventing him from communicating with Rei through their matelink as they had been able to do since their wedding day – the day after Rei had come of age.
The two of them had been so fortunate to find each other; Rei had never known a day since the cradle without her mate. Jadeite had always been there for her, even before Rei had hit puberty and they both had realised they were Wolfmates. When Rei had been a child, all of the Beta's had been as her big brothers, they had all loved her, so completely taken by her from the moment she had been born, but Jadeite had always been her favourite big brother.
Darien had been slightly put off by this, because Rei had liked Jadeite even more than she had her own blood brother, but once she had hit puberty that had dissipated as Darien had understood just why Rei had enjoyed Jadeite's company so much.
Before the two had come to realise that they were wolfmates, Jadeite had spoiled Rei to no end, but once they had realised, Jadeite's indulgence of Rei had risen to unmeasurable heights.
For the first time since Rei's birth they were truly apart.
Darien knew the only thing that kept his first Beta from going completely berserk and flattening the city to find Rei was that he knew for certain she was still alive. Not even Diamond's stolen technology that blocked their mental communication could sever the link of soulmates completely; Jadeite could still sense echoes of her emotions.
Darien knew exactly what Jadeite was going through; he had suffered it unbearably with him until Serena had returned to him. But just because he had his mate back in his arms did not mean that he was not still suffering. Rei might not be his mate but she was still his sister and he would die to keep her safe.
And if Diamond hurt his sister . . . then not even the Moon Goddess would be able to stop him from tearing Diamond apart, piece by piece.
His Beast rose dangerously close to the surface and Darien immediately asserted his control over his Beast, silently promising his furious Beast that the time was coming, for now it had to show patience and control.
Darien almost heard his Beast's disapproving growl, even as he felt the violent powerful force his people called their Beast submit and retreat.
Darien looked to the day time sky, the sun gradually sinking towards the horizon. It was nearly sunset; soon night would come and with it bloody battle, if not full out war.
Last night Darien had spent the short silent dark hours with his mate, unable to get enough of the feel of her warm soft delicate body in his arms, unable to get enough of her intoxicating heavenly scent filling his senses. He had taken her in the flesh more times in the hours of night and morning than he should have, but he had not been able to stop himself. Her wounds had been superficial and had healed within an hour of his tongue's attentions, offering her painless comfort with his healing saliva.
Not once had Serena complained of being sore or being too tired to welcome him into her body, not once during the night of what seemed like endless love making had she hesitated to accept him, even when he had woken her with his mating. She had only smiled up at him with such love and devotion that it had wrapped around his heart like a warm blanket and then she had quickly endeavoured to match his pace whether it had been fast and passionate or slow and gentle, savouring every moment and every caress.
Serena had known the touch of only the man in him last night, her tender lover, not the wild unstoppable Beast that had no control or restraint.
It had not been until the sun had cast its glorious shades of pink and gold across the morning sky that Darien had finally settled beside her and slept holding her in his arms as she snuggled close, the both of them completely and utterly sated and exhausted.
That was why that, even though it was nearly day's end, Serena still slumbered peacefully and deeply in his bed. She was exhausted not only from their many intimate encounters throughout the night, but from her ordeal in which she had been kidnapped, knocked about and then chased through the city during her escape.
Darien was grateful she had not suffered nightmares; she had rested still and peaceful all day without so much as a soft whimper. He wished he could say that he had bedded her so insatiably for that reason as well as any other, but he could not. He had been insatiable for her because he loved her and because of how close he had come to losing her forever; it had been selfish of him not to let her rest without being constantly woken by him, but he would never apologise for needing her.
Not unless Serena asked an apology of him. In that case he would whole-heartily and sincerely apologise on his knees until she was appeased.
It was irrefutable now, as much as Serena was his, he was hers. He would do anything for her, be anyone she needed him to be, do whatever she needed of him.
Serena feared she would become lost in his shadow if she submitted to him, but the thing was that he sincerely doubted that he would ever see the day in which she did submit to him. She was far stronger – and so much more stubborn – than she obviously believed herself to be. She would always keep him on his toes and never let him get his way unless she allowed it; in their days to come – however many there may be – in all their arguments yet to be, Darien knew that Serena would always win. Even if he did happen to win the occasion argument between them Darien suspected that it would only be because from time to time Serena would let him win an argument just to keep things interesting.
Darien was looking forward to the future with great anticipation and flourishing hope; something he had never really had in his life until she had come to him.
In less than one month – such a brief time for an Immortal – his life had completely changed forever. It felt as if he had stepped into the light of the sun for the first time in his lonely hollow night-bound existence. He knew daylight now, knew the light and life of it and he could never step back into the empty cold darkness of ultimate night. He would rather die than be without the day, without Serena, his wolfmate who had come to him at last.
Whatever was coming, whatever Diamond brought, Darien would overcome it and eradicate the threat to his mate. He would not give up his mate for anything. He wanted the life Serena promised to bring him, and he would fight to his last breath to keep it.
Diamond might have an army, but Darien had something so much more powerful and everlasting, he had a reason to win as he would be fighting with the love of his mate and the hope of their life together.
Let Diamond and his Damned army come, Darien would lay waste to every last threat to his mate and his pack.
"You're damaging that railing, you know."
Darien could not have kept the smile from his lips if his life had depended on it at hearing the amused melodious voice of his Wolfmate. Her tone had been filled with amusement and happiness that in turn brought him joy. From the moment he had realised that Serena was his mate, he knew he would never be happy unless she was happy, and if she was not he would sell his soul – which he might just still have after all – to make her happy again.
Serena had woken to find herself in bed alone; she hadn't liked that at all, waking up without Darien there. It was strange. The matter of nights Serena had spent sleeping in Darien's arms could be counted on one hand, but waking up beside him felt so right. She felt so safe and content; she slept soundly and even after all that had happened to her in Darien's arms she slept without nightmares. Even in her sleep Darien protected her.
It was a little strange, but it wasn't surprising. Darien held her tightly even in deep sleep, holding her and protecting her in the darkness as if he very life depended on it.
In the Mortal world such a thing could be considered unhealthy and clingy, but in the Immortal world it felt so natural. In so short a time Darien had become everything to her, so much so that she was very much looking forward to a lifetime of waking up in his arms.
Knowing Darien wouldn't have gone far from her under the circumstances Serena had risen from the bed – where they'd spent such a long magical night as was testament by the ache low in her belly – wrapped her long shinny light pink silk robe around her that had come with all her new clothes, and gone in search of her Wolfmate.
She had found him on the balcony of their bedroom – yes, their bedroom! She still couldn't quite believe it – staring out over the breathtaking view of a seemingly never-ending forest half-naked, dressed only in a pair of black slacks that rested low on his hips. He was so deep in thought that she knew he hadn't heard her approach – which was rare since he had superhuman hearing and senses and everything else that implied.
Whatever Darien had been thinking about, it had consumed him. He'd been gripping the balcony railing so tightly that it had actually started to crack beneath Darien's Immortal superhuman strength; strength that unlike their first time together, had not factored into their night of passionate and tender lovemaking.
Darien had been so gentle that not once last night had he caused her pain; she had not one bruise or mark – other than the usual love marks that came from a passionate night – to show for their lovemaking this time. He hadn't even bitten her. Her body felt well used, incredibly sated and pleasantly lethargic, the only negative aspect was the ache deep inside her that had her moving carefully.
Even her scrapes and bruises from the day before were now just a memory.
When Darien turned to face her, he wore a soft affectionate grin, one that reached his eyes, but didn't completely hide the worry within. He held out his arms to her, beckoning her to him.
Serena went to him without hesitation. It was so natural being in his embrace now that she wondered how she'd lived until now without it. In his arms she couldn't feel safer or be happier.
"How are you feeling?" Darien asked softly as he wrapped his arms around her and held her against his hard but warm chest.
Serena sank into him with all the relief that she did a warm bubble bath. "Wonderful." She answered with a content sigh as she closed her eyes to bask in the heaven that was his loving embrace.
"I feel pretty wonderful myself." He smiled into her hair. Serena was so precious to him that Darien knew he would never know a time when he would not cherish and desire her.
Nothing else needed to be said, they continued to hold each other as seconds became minutes, each basking in the other.
Until Serena couldn't hold the remorse or the dread at bay any longer. She felt a prang of guilt as yesterday finally returned to her and with it a healthy dose of reality. Here they were, in love, together and happy, while Rei was in grave danger in the hands of their ruthless sadistic enemy. They should've been mopping around, too worried and fearful to take the time to be together, or something, something that was fitting to the situation.
Rei had scarified herself for her freedom; Serena shouldn't be entitled to this wonderful moment in her wonderful lover's arms.
Darien felt Serena stiffen in his arms. He did not need to ask what was wrong; there was so much wrong at the moment, too much.
In her scent Darien could taste her fear, not for herself he knew but for Rei, the woman who may just have scarified everything for her brother's mate.
Knowing their time to forget was over Darien reluctantly pulled her out of his embrace. That was the way with moments like this; they never lasted, even when someone needed them too.
"Go to the kitchen and get yourself something to eat. You need nourishment to replenish your strength, especially after all you've been through in the past few days."
Serena looked up at him with questing eyes, wondering why he was sending her to the kitchen instead of having something brought up for the both of them, and how he expected her to eat anything with how sick she felt now reality had returned – along with it a healthy dose of guilt because of Rei.
But on the other hand, Serena knew that her health was a priority to Darien; if she didn't do as he asked, then she didn't doubt that he'd all but force the food down her throat.
"Alright." Serena breathed a submitting sigh, and gave him a tiny loving smile before she turned and left him standing alone on the balcony.
Darien kept his eyes on Serena as she left him on the balcony to put on some more suitable attire before she left the room.
He was grateful to the Moon Goddess for one thing, one small mercy. In the coming war, it was very likely that he would not survive, the odds against them were too great, but unlike Immortal mated couples, Serena would not feel his death, she would not suffer his death with him which meant that she would survive his death.
No matter what Serena was going to survive, she was going to live, even if he did not.
Serena unhurriedly dressed in the first suitable clothing her hand touched, which turned out to be a pair of light blue jeans and a medium pink blouse with a dark blue denim jacket. She preferred skirts most of the time, but with everything that was happening, pants were the safer, more practical, option. She also put on a pair of white runners; they were comfortable and so much easier to run in when running for one's life than any other shoe. She couldn't do much in the way of fighting, but she could be ready to do as she was instructed when the dire times come.
While Serena was dressing, her thoughts remained on Darien. She loved Darien so much and maybe she had loved him that way since the beginning. She didn't know, but she knew that she loved him and now she knew why she loved him.
Darien was a great man who deserved to be loved. He was selfless, courageous, strong, and he carried the weight of the entire world on his shoulders. He was a prince and an Alpha, but instead of commanding others to do everything for him, it was he who hunted their enemy, he who risked his life on a daily basis. He protected and sacrificed while asking nothing in return. For so long he'd been alone and miserable while he fought to protect his people and the innocent, and even when he'd found his salvation in his mate, he had hesitated to claim her as his own for her own sake.
When Rei was home, safe and sound, Serena would declare her lasting love for him and commit in words to stay with him, with no expectation of reciprocation; she knew he loved her, but she wouldn't hold it against him if he couldn't say the words.
Her Darien was the strong silent type – with the steadfast will of the earth's mightiest mountains.
By the time Serena had finished dressing, Darien had disappeared from the balcony. He wasn't in the bedroom or the bathroom, and the door leading into the manor was within her line of sight, which told Serena that he'd most likely left – as soundlessly as always – by leaping over the balcony.
The show off.
With a small fond loving smile on her lips, Serena left the bedroom to discover to her surprise that there were no guards outside her door. In fact the entire corridor appeared to be deserted.
Serena knew Darien had every available man out searching for Rei, but it hadn't entered her mind that he would leave her immediately unguarded. Either Darien finally trusted her to remain and be able to take care of her own needs – unlikely – or things were so much more serious than he was letting on.
The entire manor was gloomy, silent and still making Serena feel alone and anxious, even though she knew in reality she wasn't alone. Darien would never leave her alone and unguarded, not completely.
Darien had told her to go down to the kitchen, so more than likely she would find someone there.
Now, if only she knew where the kitchen was. Common sense told her that it was likely to be on the ground floor at the back of the manor – but the manor was not the middle-class suburban two story home she'd grown up in; it was huge.
Finding the kitchen could easily take half an hour.
Serena was just coming down the first flight of stairs that took her from the fourth floor to the third floor when she finally saw a sign of life.
Zoisite, who had his back to her, was carrying what looked like a silver service food tray through the doorway four doors down the wide corridor which was most likely a bedroom as she was on the third floor.
Curiosity getting the better of her – she'd been called as curious as a kitten more than a few times in her life, and not all of them had been during her childhood – Serena slowly approached the doors that had been left ajar and peeked inside.
It was a bedroom, not as big as Darien's but still large enough to fit inside the entire second floor of the family home she'd live in before parents had died and everything had changed. It was dimly lit and furnished in a simular style as Darien's – their – bedroom, only this one had much darker varnished furniture, the fabric of which was a dark green rather than black.
There wasn't a balcony attached to this room, but there were two sets of arched floor to ceiling windows that showed the cliffs and the view of the green woods beyond that was contrasted by the sun which was hovering just above the horizon.
On the other side of the room, directly opposite the doors, was a king-sized bed that was draped in covers that were the exact same shade of deep dark green as the furniture.
The room was almost Spartan with only the barest of furniture and furnishings. There were no rugs on the floor or artwork on the walls, there was only the large bed, two darkly polished chairs with the deep green coverings that stood on opposite sides of a small coffee table and a large desk complete with a matching dark deep green leathered computer chair.
Even the desk was bare of anything on it.
And then there was Nephlite and Zoisite who were staring silently and inquiringly at her while she'd been inspecting the room as if they weren't even there. Nephlite was sitting up in the huge bed while Zoisite watched her from Nephlite's bedside.
Serena felt her cheeks flood with heat and, no doubt, colour.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Serena apologised quickly, embarrassed that she'd just strolled into someone's – most likely Nephlite's since he was the one in the bed – bedroom without even knocking. "I didn't think-."
Nephlite actually smiled at her, which left Serena stunned; she'd never seen Nephlite crack a smile before. He was always so serious and gloomy, as if there hadn't been hope or joy in his life in a long time.
And being an Immortal Lycaon that 'long time' most likely stretched into centuries, or at the very least decades.
"Come in, Serena," Nephlite said with polite casualness as he motioned to her with his left hand to come forward. "We are not as formally uptight as the Anami are, we are one family here. There is not one place in the entire Lycaon territory you are not welcome."
Zoisite nodded in agreement with overeager enthusiasm, reminding her of an excited little boy who'd just been asked if he wanted his first puppy.
Serena obeyed, walking into the dim room and up to the bed, giving Zoisite a questioning look. He seemed to be keeping his mouth strangely closed tight, while his eyes practically shouting his need to communicate, betraying that he did actually have much to say but for some reason couldn't.
Nephlite noticed the baffled look she was giving his brother Beta. "Zoisite can't talk as of yet," he explained with something in his tone that sounded suspiciously like delighted amusement. "It's a godsend, a gift from the Moon Goddess. Zoicite is the most boisterous of us Beta's."
Zoisite was glaring thunderously at him, his animated eyes saying plenty.
Serena quickly covered her mouth with her hand from where a giggle was threatening to escape, but she could do nothing about the mirth that was no doubt reflected in her eyes.
Nephlite rolled his eyes with uncharacteristic playfulness. "Amazing. Even without that big mouth, he can make a beautiful woman laugh."
Serena glanced back at Zoisite to find that her laughter had indeed delighted Zoisite. Before he launched into a merry jig, Serena distracted them with the most prominent question leaping around in her mind. "Why isn't he able to talk?"
Abruptly all laughter left the room as if it were a light switch that had been flicked off and the two exchanged a significant look that had Serena narrowing her eyes in suspicion; they had communicated something between them that had undoubtedly left them hesitant and evasive.
"It doesn't matter." Nephlite said with causal dismissiveness that was so obviously feigned that it was transparent. "He'll be talking our ears off again in a day or so."
As indifferent as Nephlite was, Serena instantly knew exactly how the two Beta's had been injured to the point that one couldn't talk and the other was confined to his bed.
She was completely insensitive and heartless, not to mention oblivious and self-centred.
Serena had been in a semi-good mood that for a few moments she'd completely forgotten about the day before. How could she be so selfish and inconsiderate? These men, and so many others, had risked their lives, had been hurt, protecting her and she'd callously forgotten all about it, even when the evidence of their willingness to sacrifice for her was right here in front of her.
Serena felt completely and utterly ashamed and disgusted with herself.
They'd been injured in the ambush while protecting her.
Unable to continue to stand there and face them in her shame, Serena sunk down onto the bed and buried her face in her hands, unable to believe herself or face the two brave men who had nearly died for her ungrateful butt.
"Hey," Nephlite said gently, soothingly, calling her attention back to him, but not her gaze. "Don't blame yourself, young miss. None of this is by your own doing. You did not attack us, nor did you bring it about. And this is not the worst of injuries we have ever sustained. We've been fighting wars since we were old enough to hold a sword."
Serena felt a large hard heavily calloused hand close lightly around her wrists and gently pull her hands away from her face. She raised her head to see Zoisite smiling warmly up at her, nodding just as enthusiastically as he had before.
Apparently Zoisite agreed with Nephlite.
"If I never came here-."
"Then we would not have reason to hope once again after so long without in despair." Nephlite interrupted with all the conviction of a devout preaching his most adamant beliefs. "You are our Alpha's mate, you are a part of this family now. What we did for you was no more or less than what we would do for any member of this family. Even if you weren't renewed hope for us all, you are still the centre of Darien's existence and we would die for you just the same. It is the way of our world. It is the way of family."
Zoisite released her wrists and took hold of her hands, squeezing them with gently, silently reassuring her that he agreed with every word Nephlite had said.
A moment of silence passed before Nephlite went on. "This war was raging long before you, young miss, and in all likelihood it will continue to rage long after you're gone. As long as one Damned remains, this war isn't over."
Deep down Serena realised that she wanted to be the one to blame for everything that was happening because then she could still hold onto the illusion that she could do something about it, but she couldn't help but find herself believing them.
The hand that had been wrapped around her heart since the ambush released its grip by half; her worry and fear was not gone, but the guilt and self-loathing had dulled into something that wasn't burdening her so heavily that she wasn't able to hold her head up.
Serena turned and looked into Nephlite's eyes, giving him a weak but grateful smile. "Thankyou, for fighting for me." She turned back to Zoisite and gave him the same grateful smile. "For risking so much."
Zoisite turned his head and closed his eyes, waving his hand at her theatrically, as if she had embarrassed him to the point that he couldn't look at her at all. Hell, the gesture was something straight out of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.
Serena cast Nephlite a questioning look to which Nephlite chuckled, "He's doing his "ah shucks ma'am" routine."
Serena actually found herself giggling when she turned back to find Zoisite gone from his spot in front of her. Instead she found him in the middle of the room on the floor between the bed and the door, and for some strange unknown reason, he was standing steadily up-side-down on his head.
Nephlite made a show of rolling his eyes as Zoisite acted the clown to cheer her up. Her joyous laughter that echoed through the silent empty halls was something that the manor had been missing for far too long.
Darien had mixed feelings at finding his mate sitting on the bed of another male laughing hilariously as Zoisite and Nephlite did various playful theatrics to amuse her. In the last few minutes Zoisite had done a number of summersaults and comical stunts – a few Darien actually recognised from the black and white television program the Three Stooges – that successfully had Serena helplessly trapped within a hysterical laughing fit. All the while Nephlite voiced various comical and/or sarcastic quips and comments at Zoisite's immature humorous behaviour while both Serena and Nephlite picked food from the silver tray on the bedside table that included cold roast meats, two kinds of cheese, fruit and thick fresh slices of buttered homemade bread.
On one hand, Darien's Beast wanted to kill because his mate was sitting on the bed of another male – with said male in it – but on the other hand he found himself relieved – even thankful – at seeing Serena fit so contentedly in with his pack. She seemed so comfortable and happy in the presence of his Beta's as they continued to make her laugh in such bleak times. It warmed his heart that she could fit so comfortably in his pack, his family, and feel that she belonged there.
Darien, in his wolf form, had been checking the grounds himself for any sign of another intruder while at the same time checking in with those who were searching for Rei in their wolf forms within the city, to learn that there still wasn't any trace of her to be found.
Darien had not needed to issue the order that they continue the search.
He had been on his way back into the manor, intending to go to the kitchen to assure that Serena had obeyed him in nourishing herself, when her musical laughter had stopped him in his tracks.
Laughter that hadn't been coming from the kitchen or their bedroom.
Darien had shifted back into his human form – taken only a few moments to clothe himself – and had followed the sound of the melodious laughter to Nephlite's bed chamber to find Serena sitting on Nephlite's bed while Zoisite was silently putting on a show evidently intended to entertain her.
Darien had not made his presence known to any of them, not wanting to interrupt them and put an end to Serena's entertainment and her laughter. The sound of her laughter was divinely melodious to his ears and his heart. For the first time Darien could really see Serena being happy with him and his pack, here in the manor that had been home to Darien for well over a century.
That Serena was finding an apt place in his house brought more joy to him than he could ever express. She seemed comfortable and at home in the manor even after all the bad things she had endured. She really did have great inner strength; she had not let all the bad stuff corrupt her view of his home and family.
Maybe his hope for making her truly happy here was within reach after all.
First Darien had a war to end, a sister to safely retrieve and an enemy to slay.
Darien worried for Rei, but not for her life. She was too valuable to Diamond as a weapon to use against him; Diamond would not kill the only Princess of the Lycaon race. He may harm her but she would survive as Rei was the strongest of the pack. Whatever Diamond may do to her, as long as she survived, Rei would recover. Rei was a pampered and protected princess, as she had been from the day of her birth, she had never seen any real battle even though she was capably trained – by himself, the Beta's and the best warriors of their kind – but Rei had the strength of their mother in full. She was a force to be reckoned with and it took more than what Diamond was capable of to break her.
And Jadeite could still sense her; she was alive and until Jadeite informed him otherwise, was in good health.
Darien would do all in his power to get his sister back as soon as possible, and despite the fact that he felt impotently powerless every moment that passed, there was nothing that he could do unless something changed. Everything that could be done to find Rei was being done and so it would remain when something changed.
Hopefully, that something would be a communication from Rei. The princess may have been young but she was as clever and cunning as any female, mortal or Immortal, ever born. If there was a way Rei could get word to them – or escape – then she would find it.
But if fate proved him wrong, then there would be no place for Diamond to hide from him. Darien would find him and inflict a slow torturous death upon him such as had never been experienced before. As it was, Diamond was going to die, no matter what, but how he died – and now long it took for him to die – was entirely up to Dia-.
Darien froze in mid-thought as a wave of icy dread washed over him, sending a chill through him and down his spine.
Cold malicious foul-tasting evil pierced through the air like a powerful shockwave, and it was close.
Real close.
Darien closed his eyes and concentrated, focusing on the open mental link that existed between him and his pack, his intent to send out a call to his pack to return. As Alpha, he could mentally communicate with any member of his pack over a reasonable distance; it was not a mental bond that was anywhere near as strong as the mating link, but it was more than strong enough for him to contact every member of his pack within the city and the surrounding woods, but without warning he found himself slamming into a mental wall.
What the-?!
Diamond was blocking all telepathic communication in the area! He could not even reach out to Nephlite's or Zoisite's mind.
Darien hurried into the room, his two Beta's already on their feet – Nephlite only on one leg but still he stood tall and battle-ready – staring at him, awaiting their orders.
Serena also rose to her feet, startled and apprehensive as she stared at him, the alarmed look in her eyes telling him that she knew something terrible had happened.
Darien had to fight the urge to pull her into his arms and assure her that everything was going to be alright, but unfortunately he did not have the seconds to spare. Diamond was coming and he needed every moment he had to prepare; the manor and Serena had to be defended at any cost.
Darien could feel it in his bones, the war had come to the manor, and his Beast was hammering against his control to be freed to fight to defend what was his and kill all that threatened it. Darien assured his Beast that it would be free to spill blood soon enough.
"Take her upstairs and stay with her." Darien ordered his Beta's, his tone grimly serious and steady, his demeanour becoming that of one who had unquestioned supreme authority. Never had he been more the crown prince of his people than he was now. "No matter what, keep her safe."
The two Beta's did not like so obviously being put on the sidelines, but Darien did not have time to explain himself them. They were injured and at present far from their best; he did not have the option of keeping them out of whatever was coming, but he would keep them as far from the centre of it as possible. He did not have the numbers to be without them, but at the same time they were injured and he would not have them on the front lines to be easily slaughtered.
He had already lost one brother Beta – first to Damnation and then by his own hand – Darien refused to lose another as long as he had any choice in the matter.
Darien lowered his serious bleak gaze from his Beta's to his mate, and despite the situation he forced down the truth of what he was feeling and allowed his love for her to shine in his eyes instead, even knowing that his desperation showed as well. "Stay inside. No matter what happens, please stay inside, Serena."
Serena's wide eyes were already filling with heart-shattering terrified tears, but she nodded once in compliance.
Darien took only a moment more to drink in the sight of his beautiful mate, whom he would sacrifice his very life for, and he spun on his heels and was outside the manor within the minute, with all remaining personnel of the manor at his back. Behind him in a single file line stood both Anami and Lycaon kind, all together totalling the number twenty-seven.
Darien silently and at length cursed. With so many of his numbers in the city searching, and with no way of calling them back in time, there was nothing to stop them from being overrun.
In the woods, still miles away but more than close enough for Darien to hear the thunderous rhythmic rapid pounding; an Immortal army numbering in the hundreds was rapidly drawing closer.
And their small line of defence had no chance of stopping such an overwhelming force.
Darien closed his eyes and pictured Serena's smiling face, using the image and his love for her to draw the courage and strength he needed. He pictured her naturally red lips that tasted sweeter than honey, her hair like golden sunlight and her soul-baring eyes that gleamed and sparkled when she was happy. Eyes that finally looked at him with love and trust.
That was what he was fighting for, his mate. The woman he loved who was the hope of his people.
"Remember what you are fighting for!" Darien shouted at those behind him. He opened his eyes and turned to look at each one standing with him, both Lycaon and Anami kind. "This is our territory, our home! The Damned are coming to take my mate from us, the gift to us all from the Moon Goddess! You all know what she means to us, to our survival, she is our very hope! She is our future! Are you going to let them take our future from us?!"
"NO!" They all shouted in union, throwing their arms up in the air, some of which grasped long silver swords that would soon be stain with black blood.
"Are you going to let the Fallen conquer us?!"
"NO!"
"Then let this be the battle that our children's children remember," Darien forced all his strength, all his determination into his voice that grew louder with each word. "Let this be the battle that lives in legend! Let us earn the gift our Goddess has bestowed us! WE WILL FIGHT AND THIS DAY VICTORY WILL BE OURS, GLORY WILL BE OURS!"
Each and every warrior roared and cheered as loudly as they were able.
Darien once again closed his eyes and prayed to the Moon Goddess, not for himself but for his mate and his people. The Moon Goddess could take his life if that be her wish but please in return let Serena and his people survive and retain their freedom.
'Please, great Moon Goddess, mother of all Immortals, let Serena live and let it be so free of Diamond's cruelty. Let the cost be my life should you demand one be paid.'
From the balcony of the bedroom she now shared with the Immortal Lycaon Crown Prince, Serena watched as Darien and at most thirty men gathered in a straight defensive line between the manor and the wall and high gates, lining up a good twenty feet back from the wall. Most had shifted into their wolf form while the Anami soldiers – maybe ten or so of the group – had swords clutched tight and ready in their hands.
Of the Lycaon kind, only Darien remained in his human form. They had shifted just after Darien's inspiring speech.
Something terrible hadn't happened as Serena had first feared. No, something terrible was coming. Serena knew it with certainty from the way that Darien and every available man but the two wounded Beta's with her had gathered in a defensive line below, ready to fight to protect the manor and the coveted mortal woman within.
Beside her, one on each side, Nephlite and Zoisite watched with obvious frustration at not being down there on the battlefield with their Alpha and pack. Maybe that was why they hadn't uttered a single protest when she'd headed straight onto the balcony when they'd reached the bedroom.
That they did not object to her watching told Serena that Darien hadn't confined her to Nephlite's room to hide. It was a pointless effort to try to hide from Immortal superhuman beings who could hear her heartbeat from a distance.
"What's happening?" Serena asked the two of them without looking away from the scene below.
"Diamond is coming with an army." Nephlite did not see any point in lying to her, she would see for her own eyes soon enough.
Serena could barely breathe from her almost crippling fear and anxious worry for her mate and all the men gathered below her. She didn't care for herself – Diamond had made it clear that he wanted her alive – she only cared for those who were very likely about to fight to the death for her.
When Diamond stepped calmly out from the trees beyond the manor's walls, Serena stopped breathing.
The scent of blood, death and fear filled the air, the scent was so putrid and thick that Darien was pulled back through time to the Great Immortal Battle of the sixteenth century between the Lycaon kind and the Damned. The battlefield had been vast and drenched in the blood of the tightly scattered limp and dismembered bodies of so many. He had led his father's army against the Damned army that had gathered on the outskirts of London. It was the only other time in known history that the Damned had formed an army of such number.
So many Lycaon lives had so needlessly been lost that day. At the end of the day Darien had been left standing in a field of corpses, saturated in blood from head to toe and so exhausted that it had been a miracle that he had still be able to stand.
This time, Darien had so much more to lose and was facing the worst odds he had ever faced. He desperately needed to recall his pack back to the manor, but he knew that even if Diamond was not using the mortal's stolen technology to cut off all telepathic communication in the surrounding area, they still would have been severely hard-pressed to make it back in time for the battle.
Darien did not hold doubt in the soldiers who stood with him, only the overwhelming force they were facing. Even he, one of the most skilled and feared warriors of the Immortal race, could not uphold against such overwhelming numbers as those he could hear and scent approaching, their synchronized footsteps booming through the air like the pounding of the drums of war.
Beyond the black iron gates, Darien watched with fury – that vastly contradicted the icy feeling in the pit of his stomach – as Diamond stepped out of the trees, his expression maliciously triumphant.
But Diamond did not step out of the trees alone. Even as Diamond's vast army stepped out from the trees a moment later, Darien's eyes were locked on the large hunter's knife that was pressed into the side of Rei's throat, whom he held against him with his arm around her neck so tightly that he was almost choking her.
Darien struggled against his Beast's furious lethal impulses to leap into action to save Rei, killing the threat to her in the process, and also his own violent desires and fearful emotions. To see his sister, the Princess of the Lycaon race and his own blood whom was under his protection, in the hands of his greatest, most dangerous enemy had him at the very end of his self-control.
The only relief was that Rei was without any sign of harm, even after Rei had helped Serena escape him Diamond had not taken his rage out on her that Darien could see. He, however, had no illusions that she had also been spared from physiological harm; Diamond was as merciless and artistic in his ways of physiological torture as he was in physical torture.
Darien stepped forward, knowing that Diamond would feel the need to monologue; no doubt Diamond wanted to generously give Darien the chance to surrender in return for Rei's life – with Serena handed over to him in the process, of course.
"There is no need for bloodshed, Lycaon Prince." Diamond declared loudly, theatrically, even though Darien was only feet from him.
The show was for the men of Darien's forces, not him.
"I am willing to return your beautiful beloved sister to you and leave here without the need for conflict, sparing the lives of your pack and leaving you with your territory intact." Diamond's voice was loud and clear, like the voice of the main performer on the stage of a Broadway musical. "There is no need for war this day! I have no grudge against any of you!"
Darien narrowed his eyes in incredulous distrust at the blatant lie that he held no grudge. Darien knew what Diamond would ask for in return for such an offer – that he would never in a million years keep. Diamond was a traitorous as he was ruthless.
Diamond looked straight into Darien's eyes, victory and darkly enjoyment in the black depths.
"All you have to do is give me the mortal woman."
Though Darien had been expecting it, it took all of his self-control to keep himself from roaring at Diamond in sheer rage at his audacity. He would do almost anything for Rei, but he just could not choose between his sister and his mate. He could not hand Serena over for anything.
In fear for his sister, Darien felt a knife of ice plunge itself into his heart.
Jadeite would never forgive him for this.
Darien would never forgive himself for this.
Serena didn't need supernatural hearing to hear every word. Diamond wasn't shouting, but he was close enough to it; he was putting on quite a performance.
"Darien! Don't you even think about it!" Rei shouted awkwardly but quickly, gasping for breath as she struggled to breathe with Diamond's arm all pressed against her throat. "She's far more important than me and you know it!"
Serena was having just as much difficulty breathing as Rei was, the pain in her chest from not only Rei's words but also the knowledge that Rei may die because of her, had caused a squeezing ghostly hand of sheer ice to form around her heart. She could not do this; she could not watch Rei die for her, not like this!
Not like any way!
Serena opened her mouth, to say what even she had no idea – what did one say in this kind of situation, 'you've got yourself a deal, take me with you'? – but before she could utter a single syllable, Darien's hard voice pierced the air.
"There you have it, Diamond, from my sister's own mouth!" There was a triumphant smugness in Darien's voice that Serena just didn't like; the kind that hinted that there was a devil's mocking grin on his lips – she couldn't be certain though as she could only see the back of his head. "My mate is too important to all!"
Diamond's eyes flashed with incredulous fury. That he hadn't expected to get what he wanted was obvious in the expression on his face. He glared at Darien, his expression as hard and as cold as the depths of outer space. "You would sacrifice the life of your immortal sister, the Princess and only other heir to your throne, for a useless mortal?"
Silence. Silence which spoke more than any furious words or ferocious snarl ever could. Serena wanted to break the silence that screamed the answer to Diamond's challenge that no one wanted to actually put into words. No one wanted to say that one life was worth more than another.
And Serena really didn't want to hear it, in any way shape or form, and that included spoken with words or with silence. She was not worth the life of an Immortal Lycaon Princess who was mated to the Lycaon Prince's second in command!
Serena opened her mouth to say so – even knowing Darien would be furious at her for it, but when she knew without doubt that Darien would never harm her, there wasn't much to fear – when again she was cut off before she could make a single sound.
A ferocious snarling deafening roar exploded through the silence like the thunderous – pissed off – sound of an explosion right at their feet.
In the space of time it took to blink an eye, Zoicite was had lifted her and moved back from the edge of the balcony. Serena gave no objections, knowing that she couldn't have fought him and his superhuman even if she'd wanted too, instead she kept her eyes – and her focus – on what was happening below. She all but ignored Zoisite standing in front of her, slightly to her right, with his arm extended halfway around her without touching her.
The next thing Serena knew Nephlite was standing at her back, the two surrounding her in a solid hard wall of iron flesh and superhuman strength.
Below, the two Immortal Armies – small armies but armies none-the-less – were suddenly abuzz with open aggression and hostility as they snared, hissed and roared, the Damned in outrage and Darien's army in what appeared to be triumph.
Something had happened, and even though Serena hadn't taken her eyes off of them for longer than the split second needed to blink, she'd missed it. Whatever had happened had put the Damned Army in a furious outrage and Darien's army on the defensive in a massive way.
"What happened?" Serena asked her guardians, her eyes glued on the commotion below. Something was wrong, missing, she just couldn't-
Diamond! Where was Diamond? He wasn't where he'd been standing a moment ago, holding Rei in a chokehold in which she had barely been able to breath.
Zoicite, unable to speak, allowed Nephlite to answer.
If Darien had not been so relieved that his sister was safe, he would have had to resist the urge to tear a strip from Jadeite's hide. He may still. Darien knew that there was no way to prevent a bloody war from breaking out – he had known it the moment he had sensed Diamond and his army approaching – no matter how events had played out. Even if he had handed Serena over, Diamond never would have kept his word, not with such an overwhelming force at his back.
But what his reckless first Beta had done was antagonise an already hostile enemy by taking advantage of Diamond's moment of distraction in which his attention had been focused on Darien.
Before Darien's Immortal all-seeing eyes, Darien had watched as Jadeite in his wolf form, had burst from the woods without any warning. He had sailed through the air with his claws extended and bloodlust in his fixated eyes, to land practically on top of Diamond and Rei.
Diamond had buckled beneath the massive bulky muscled weight of the colossal shimmering red wolf and Rei had been sent rolling across the hard ground with a cry of startled pain.
Before Diamond or any of his Damned warriors had had time to react, Jadeite was already once again on the move. With a burst of speed only a superhuman Immortal Lycaon Wolf was capable of, Jadeite was on his massive clawed paws. He leapt off of Diamond – before Diamond could recover enough to grab him and retaliate – to land lithely beside his wife where he had lowered to haunches.
Wasting not a moment, had Rei reached up to grasp hold of the fur of her husband's shoulder, which she used to pull herself up onto his back using her own Lycaon strength.
And in a single impressive bound, Jadeite had cleared the stone wall that surrounded the manor.
Darien was relieved his sister was safe inside the grounds of the manor, but the manor would not remain safe for very much longer.
This war had begun so long ago, in which so many battles had been fought; some of which had been won and some that had been lost. And this day another battle was going to be fought that would determined the future of them all, a battle that very could result in rivers of Immortal blood flowing across the earth.
"Get her inside!" Darien ordered Jadeite, having to shout over the vampiric snarls and growls and shouts of enraged protest from the other side of the gates.
Jadeite turned in the direction of the manor's doors but before he could take a single step towards it, Rei slid smoothly from her husband's back to land lithely on her feet with a telling grin on his blood red lips.
Rei was going to defy him. Darien knew his sister well, and just as he had known she would, Rei shifted into her dark blood red and black wolf form and pointedly took her place beside her husband, standing as tall and proud and stubborn on four furry feet as any queen ever could on two. Her head held so high and proud that for a brief moment Darien saw his own mother; Rei was their mother's daughter.
Darien hesitated. Rei was his sister and a young woman he had sworn with his life's blood to protect, and by all rights he should order her inside to Serena's side, but as much as he wanted it different, Rei was needed. They were outnumbered against a ruthless enemy, they were two Beta's down, and they had to protect Serena no matter the cost. So much rested on Serena.
Even if that cost had to be the life's blood of the Lycaon Princess. An unspeakable tragedy as her blood would be mixed with that of her husband and her brother – as the only way either Darien or Jadeite would allow Rei's blood to stain the earth was over their dead bodies – every abled body was needed in this fight.
A fight they were going to lose. But if Darien was going to fall this day he would make damn sure that Diamond led the way into death.
The violent tension in the air was so thick that it couldn't have even been able to cut by one of the swords held by Immortal hands below. Most of the Damned Serena could see below were either tense in their anticipation or so hyped up for the coming battle that they were jittery and bouncing around like they were a two year old on a sugar rush, impatiently awaiting their chance to fight and spill enemy blood.
While the Damned were visibly confident and even cocky in their belief that they would walk away from this battle with their victory, the Immortals below, each one ready to defend their territory, were so gravely outnumbered. They were still and silent, each one tense and apprehensive as they were not so confident in their chances of defeating their enemy.
They were so greatly outnumber that when Rei had been ordered inside the mansion by her brother, prince and Alpha – and no doubt also by her mate who had so bravely and boldly saved her moments before – she had ignored the order and had taken position beside her Wolfmate.
It appalled and sickened Serena to her very core that the Lycaon Princess, who until just weeks ago had been the most protected female of not only the pack but of the entire Immortal Lycaon race, was now forced to stand before the Damned army that was hell bent on destroying them all.
All so that the Damned wouldn't get their hands on the Lycaon Prince's coveted mortal mate.
Self-loathing and paralysing dread filled her stomach with an icy nauseating weight and wrapped a tight hand around her heart until she could barely breathe. Serena wrapped her arms around herself, as if that could give her any comfort at all, as tears sprang to her eyes in wake of the crippling agony within, tears Serena made no attempt to fight. She couldn't stand this! Those she had greatly come to care for in the past two weeks were going to die senselessly for her!
How many had died for her already, in the ambush and since then, and at what point would it be too many before the Immortals finally realised that she just wasn't worth this?! In Serena's opinion one death in her name was way too many, but what number would be too high for Darien?! The entire Lycaon pack was going to be wiped out, and it was all her fault!
How could she be so selfish?! Was she really going to just stand there and watch a pack of Lycaons, whose race was on the verge of extinction, a race that had been secretly defending all mankind for millennia, vainly die in her name?! She wasn't worth this, nothing was!
Rei was safe now – at least in this brief moment before the coming battle. Rei was where she belonged, under her brother's protection and by her bonded husband's side. There was no reason for them to fight, all Darien had to do was surrender her – a mere mortal who in truth was nothing special at all – over to them, but Serena knew Darien never would because he loved her!
Was one man's – Immortal or no – woman really worth the lives of so many?
"No matter what you believe you are worth fighting, and even dying, for."
Serena blinked, momentarily at a blank as she looked over her shoulder at Nephlite. Had she spoken that last thought aloud? She knew her thoughts were safe; she was mortal and not a born member of the pack so they couldn't hear her thoughts.
Both Nephlite and Zoicite were staring at her with hard fierce fire in their eyes, their gazes burning into her own, where Serena knew her angst-ridden distress had to be on display for all to see. After a long moment in which Zoicite silently communicated his fervent belief in Nephlite's words by nodding vigorously several times, he nodded pointedly downward.
Serena followed his gaze and hers widened. She was gripping the outside of the railing with both hands as if she was preparing to jump right over the railing to the ground three full stories below. She hadn't even realised that she'd released her hold on herself, then moved forward out of the protective cage the Beta's had held her within with their own bodies, and was now holding onto the railing in a manner that made it clear that she was preparing to toss herself over it!
Nephlite hadn't read her thoughts, he'd read her body language.
Without looking at either of the Betas at her back, Serena inconsolably and mournfully returned her eyes to the armies below. "No one person is worth the lives of so many."
Below, the smallest of the gigantic wolves on the battlefield turned her head and looked straight up into her eyes, the wolf's dark fiery coat shimmering magnificently, and she flattened her ears against her furry head and bared her sharp pointy teeth that were longer than Serena's hand.
Serena couldn't hear it, but she knew the Lycaon Princess was growling at her. Serena may not have been able to hear Rei, but the Immortal Lycaon Princess had evidently heard her.
And she was disagreeing with Serena's spoken belief that she wasn't worth the lives of so many.
Serena couldn't help it, she almost smiled. Almost. Rei was standing amongst their small Lycaon army, ready to do battle with a force over three times their number, and still she was the stubborn generous brave princess Serena had come to love as a sister.
So much had happened in such short a time; even though Serena had known them all less than a month, a lifetime seemed to have come to pass in these past few weeks. Serena had always known her own heart and she knew she loved Darien with all the love she had to give, that she loved Rei as dearly as if she had known and loved her all her life, even the Beta's held a piece of her heart.
And it seemed that they had come to care for her just as much as she had for them. Their actions were irrefutable testament to the truth of that. Rei was standing on a battlefield in which the odds were so gravely stacked against them and still she found the time to offer Serena comfort and reassurance when she needed it.
This was her life now. Serena had finally found where she belonged and now it was all going to be ripped away from her forever. And there was nothing she could do about it. She wanted to be down there beside Rei, fighting to protect the pack she had come to love and accept as her own, but in this world she was as helpless as an infant. An immortal child would be able to do more on the battlefield below then she ever would be able too.
"Tell me they can win this," Serena implored the Betas at her back, even though only one was capable of answering her. "Tell me they at least have a chance."
"They have more than that, young miss." Nephlite's hard voice was tender as he stood behind her as a pillar of protection and strength. "The Damned fight to have something they are not worthy of, while this pack fights with the power of renewed hope and love for a queen-to-be. You do not see it, but you are worth fighting, and even dying, for and they all do so willingly. You are a beacon of hope none of them have known in Immortal generations, hope that there is more than death and darkness in their future and none of them would give you up even to save their own lives. You falling permanently into their hands would destroy them more deeply than Diamond or his army of unholy Damned ever could hope to accomplish. I know, because you are all that and more to me."
Serena gasped at not just the last of his words but the heartfelt meaning they carried. She snapped her head around to stare at him, her words dying on her lips beneath the fondness in his intense gaze.
"You are my hope for the future, hope that a mate waits for me, and even if she does not, then for my people. You are the mate and love of my brother and Prince Alpha, the one who has brought him more to life than he has ever been. My Alpha is my liege, my brother, and you are what drives him, you are what he loves most, the one thing he cannot do without. You are my queen-to-be and I live to serve and protect you. I would readily die for you without thought or hesitation. Should your slightest whim be my life, then it would be yours to have. This pack is a family and our loyalty and devotion to each other is absolute." His eyes were on fire with his conviction and fortitude. "You are part of us that none of us could ever do without."
"A part that is going to be death of you." Serena whispered, forcing the words out; they damn near choked her.
"Then so be it." Nephlite tilted his head ever so slightly in an inquisitive gesture. "What would you have us do? You are the mate of our crown prince. You are not replaceable."
To that there was nothing Serena could say except, "no one should have to die today, for me or anyone else. I would give my life to stop this."
Nephlite gave her a faint but genuinely soft smile. "That there alone makes you worthy of dying for."
Zoicite bowed his head once to her in unspoken but unwavering agreement.
Before Serena could reply and without warning, all hell broke loose below. An earth-shaking, ear-splitting thundering boom pierced the air with all the force of an explosion. A moment later an ever expanding cloud of white grey dust followed as the Damned Army ran through the wall surrounding the manor as if it wasn't even there. Serena's mortal eyes hadn't even been able to see them move, but all of a sudden the Damned army was no longer there standing between the woods and the manors walls.
Instead the once beautiful tranquil gardens below were awash with indistinguishable chaos. Brief blurs of colour and frenzied movement were all that Serena could distinguish on the battlefield below except for the occasional glint of a blade, the spraying of blood – both black and crimson. But while her eyes were too inferior to follow the battle that was destroying the once magnificent gardens of the manor grounds, her ears heard everything.
But there was just too much to hear that in the end there was nothing but the collective thunderous, deafening roar of battle, each sound blending into another. The cries of battle, the metallic clanging as blade met blade, the booming thunder of physical blows made by impossibly strong immortals and the ground-shaking beneath countless Immortal feet.
But the worst part was the smell; unmistakable, stomach-turningly foul and unforgettable in that no matter this battle's outcome, it was going to haunt her nightmares for the rest of her life.
Death. The stench of it was unlike any other. The metallic scent of blood, the fowl scent of bodily fluids and waste made up the scent of death.
Below, Immortal beings were dying, and to make it worse, Serena had no idea who had died; was it Damned or was it members of the pack, or was it a mixture of both?
Oh god, was Rei or even Darien among those who were already dead, only a minute into the battle? Had any of the pack in the frenzied chaos below been slain? Was Jadeite this very moment dying and taking Rei with him?
"NO!" Serena roared in sheer horror, but before she could throw her body over the railing to go to the battle field below, she felt a pair of cool hard arms wrap around her, securing her in a sturdy iron hold that was almost too tight.
Those she loved were very possibly being slaughtered below and there was nothing she could do about it but watch and sob uncontrollably for those who had and still would be lost.
They were so overrun and outnumbered by the Damned forces that Darien found himself battling six Damned at once, two Lycaon and four Anami Damned. He had never faced such overwhelming odds before, and even as skilled and powerful as he was Darien knew he could not keep this up forever. He had been on more battlefields than he cared to remember but never had his forces been so overwhelmed, and never had it been on his own territory with those he needed to protect this close to the heat of the battle.
The thought that fuelled him on against the incredible force was that Serena was inside the manor and if Nephlite and Zoicite became overrun, then Serena would be left defenceless against any Damned that made it passed him.
So Darien fought with all that he had to give and then gave more. Today WOULD NOT be the day he lost his mate, not to Diamond not to anyone.
Two Anami Damned charged at him with their sharp fangs bared and their clawed hands held high, their claws extended like thin pointed daggers. Darien ducked beneath the swiping clawed hand of the first whose strike would have torn out his throat and he thrust out his sword, impaling the second Damned, who gave a cry that sounded halfway between an enraged hiss and a grunt.
Without taking even a second to take a breath, Darien surged to his feet and yanked his blade free from the chest of the second Damned Anami who once free of his blade fell dead at Darien's feet as he had pierced the Damned Anami's heart.
The first Damned Anami that had attacked him was hissing and snarling furiously at him, bloodlust in his black eyes.
In his peripheral vision Darien could see the four Lycaon Damned crouch low, ready to attack him as one – in the pack hunting style of the Lycaon kind – and he grinned in anticipation, already knowing which of his well-practised moves he would use – it was one he had made many times before.
Darien tensed his legs and crouched low, almost sitting on the ground, and waited as he knew what was to come. He knew what the Lycaon Damned were waiting for and he wanted them to act first.
The Damned Animi roared his snarling battle cry and lunged at him.
Darien's hold tightened on his sword. He was the crown Lycaon Prince; they should know better. It was almost insulting how much they continued to underestimate him.
Darien waited until the last possible moment before he leapt into action, the Damned Lycoan at his back springing into action a fraction of a second after Darien. Darien used all the strength his human form legs possessed and leap straight up into the air as high as he was able, which was over four stories high – he did not do it often but Darien was able to leapt from the ground to the roof of the manor in one bound. He was the only one of his pack who could make such a jump in human form as he was of royal blood, the strongest and purest blood of his kind.
Below, the battle continued to rage, the combatants in both human and Lycaon form resembling scurrying ants to his eyes so high above. Beyond, the woods seemed strangely peaceful in its nightly serenity despite the fierce battle that raged at its heart.
And for just a brief moment before gravity took back its hold on him, all was still as Darien floated in the air. He felt weightless and even the briefest of moments, calm. The moon above shining down on his like a cool gentle caress and Darien realised that he was not only fighting for his mate but he was also fighting for this; his territory and his home. No such beauty or tranquillity would exist under Diamond's reign.
And as quickly as the moment had come, it ended. Directly below, Darien watched as gravity reclaimed its hold over him, the three of the four charging Lycaon Damned and the attacking Anami Damned collided with each other as their attention had been fixed on him, their eyes glued to him in the air above.
Darien knew none of the five Damned but he knew that they were barely five centuries old and had hidden in the shadows for too long. Diamond had called upon every Damned, half of which were not the well trained battle-hardened warriors Darien and his Beta's were. Diamond had wanted mainly greater numbers – basically foot soldiers – while Darien had at his disposal highly trained and better experienced warriors.
The Damned Anami went sprawling while the Lycaon Damned who had collided with him stumbled, taking two of his fellow Lycaon Damned with him. Only one of the charging Lycaon Damned was able to side step the others.
And that was Darien's first target. As he began to fall back down to earth, Darien flipped his body until he was facing downward and he focused his narrowed eyes on the Lycaon Damned still steadily on his feet. Darien then extended his sword out ahead of him, using his body weight and the force of his fall in place of his own strength. The ground drew closer and closer to him as he fell down through the cold night air, faster and faster until he was plummeting down with great force, his hair and clothing whipping around him to the point that the sound filled his ears.
On the ground, the Lycaon Damned realised too late what Darien was intending.
Darien saw the Damned Lycaon's black eyes grow wide in disbelief a moment before the blade of Darien's sword pierced the dark brown hide of the Damned, the sharp blade with all the force of Darien's weight and fall pierced through the skin, flesh and bone of the Damned Lycaon wolf.
A single heartbeat later Darien's weight fell down upon the massive wolf with crushing force. Bone shattered, flesh tore and black blood sprayed in all directions as the massive wolf crumpled to the ground, the blade of Darien's sword digging into the earth beneath the still and broken body of the Damned Lycaon who had been dead before hitting the damp earth.
Ignoring the pain and damage to his body that the move had cost him – hie entire body had felt the jarring impact of his landing, especially upper arms and upper body that had taken the majority of the force of impact – Darien slowly rose from the fur covered body that had broken his fall and rose to his feet, wrenching his black blood drenched sword free from the body and the earth.
Three down, three to go – at least of this group.
After he finished the three off, Darien knew well that there were another six to take their place, and another six after that. They were outnumbered – that about half of the Damned were without Darien's battle experience was only a minor advantage – and sooner or later the Damned were going to either overrun them or get into the manor and capture Serena which would force them to surrender.
With that thought, blinding white hot rage surged through him, and Darien's blood-soaked sword fell to the ground as his hands became paw with claws the size of his human form's head. In his wolf form, Darien was far stronger and faster than in his human form, but the disadvantage was that he made a larger target by a great deal; there was more of him for his enemies which to land a blow upon.
But that his enemy had an advantage was not going to save any of them as never had the man and the Beast of the Lycaon Prince been as united in their goal as they were now in the life or death defence of their mate.
Finally, after so long, after everything they had been though, they were now truly one in a way that could never be undone. His Beast had not just been tamed, but now because of Serena their mate, they were truly one.
Both the wolf and the man were united in their love and were at peace and so it would remain, for the rest of Serena's life.
The three Lycaon Damned fell back from him, watching him more warily now after how easily he had just dispatched with three of their number. Their bodies were as tense and battle-ready for they now knew that they faced their deaths if they continued to challenge him.
Darien threw back his head and howled as loud as he was capable. The howl pierced the air, heard by all even over the deafening din of an Immortal battlefield. It was a sound his enemies had feared for centuries, and rightly so; he was the Prince of all Lycaon kind and the future king and he was everything the title implied in the Immortal world.
But the past meant nothing anymore. All the battles he had fought before his mate had entered his life were unimportant. Darien had something his entire being was focused on defending, on fighting for; his mate and his future queen. This battle would be his greatest and his most crucial.
And so many more of his enemy would fall dead at his feet this day. To protect his mate, and his pack, Darien would crush them all.
"GET BACK!" Nephlite roared and Zoicite stepped in front of Nephlite, who still held Serena prisoner in his arms against him.
Zoicite pulled his sword from its sheath at his waist in one fluid well-practised movement just as two Damned – their black eyes gleamed with dark triumph – flew up through the air to land effortlessly on their feet on the balcony railing.
Without hesitation, Zoicite gracefully swept forward with a his sword held high in front of him and leapt straight into battle as Nephlite spun on his heel and retreated into the bedroom, removing Serena from sight.
"Zoicite!" Serena screamed desperately, hysterically, as Nephlite swept her off and away from the balcony and the danger.
But Nephlite did not take her from the room as she expected him too. Instead she found herself being hurriedly, but gently put on the bed she shared with their prince, and Nephlite turned his back to her, pulling his own sword at the same time.
Serena heart was beating so frantically and so loudly in her ears that she expected it to force its way through her breastbone at any moment. The Damned were in the manor, they were on her balcony, the balcony she had stood on so many times in the past month. Now there was a Beta on the balcony fighting not only for her safety but for his own life against those who wished to take her from her pack.
Serena could hear the closer, now distinguishable, metallic sound of sword meeting sword and the heavy stomping of battle.
Zoicite was fighting two Damned on the balcony, as Serena sat numb and dazed on the bed with Nephlite standing tall and battle-ready in front of her. He was situated directly between her and the doorway leading onto the balcony, ready and waiting for any Damned who made it passed Zoicite.
Serena knew that the only way any Damned made it to her was if both of the Beta's had fallen before their enemy's sword.
And they would not fall as long as they still breathed.
Serena couldn't breathe. The world was spinning around her and her chest felt so constricted and painful that it was agony just to breathe. Tears blurred her vision and her body was shaking so badly that Serena had to fight to remain upright. Both Zoicite and Nephlite were both badly injured but they had no choice but to fight, even though their injuries severely diminished their chances of surviving.
The two Betas were all that stood between her and the Damned, but Serena didn't care! They shouldn't be fighting in their condition! Nephlite had just been in the equivalent of a hospital bed for crying out loud and Zoicite couldn't even speak! How was he meant to call for help if and when he needed it?
No! This wasn't right! This wasn't fair! It shouldn't be this way, not for her! If it wasn't for her then none of this would have happened and those who had already died in her defence would still be alive!
One moment Serena was staring into Nephlite's back, trying to get herself under control, as this was no time for her to go into hysterics and lose it – she needed to be able to do what she could if the situation continued to deteriorate – the next he was gone and she found herself staring into empty air.
Adjusting her gaze towards the balcony doorway, Serena gasped. Zoicite was walking backwards into the room, all the while exchanging sword blows with three Damned who were following him into the room, while Nephlite had taken place beside his temporarily mute Beta fighting three Damned of his own.
The two Betas stood just inside the doorway, using the narrower space to try to prevent any of the Damned slipping passed them into the room, but they were two wounded against six uninjured Damned super strong and super fast warriors; it wouldn't take long for at least one to find a way passed her two protectors.
And if any made it passed them then it would force at least one of them to abandon the fight and their position to come to her aid. Serena had no illusions that she could hold one of the Damned off for any length of time, no matter how brief.
Unless the Betas killed at least one each or help came for them, they were going to lose and they would die trying to protect her.
Serena couldn't let that happen! She had to do something, but what? What could she do? She was a mortal amongst Immortals, a child amongst ageless ruthless soldiers.
All she could do was watch, and wait.
If only Darien could call for help with his mindlink thing! If only-.
Call for help. Call for help!
And just like that, Serena was on the move without any pain or dizziness. Just like that, Serena knew what she had to do.
It was their only chance.
Darien had been known as the mightiest Immortal warrior for centuries, his skills in combat and his battle strategies were second to none. His strength, his unyielding force of will, his intelligence and his relentlessness had justly earned him the title.
But not even he, the Prince and future king of all Lycaon kind, was invulnerable. The sheer numbers in which they were outnumbered by were beginning to overwhelm them; there were only so many a single warrior, no matter how skilled, could face at one time, and as more and more Immortals fell, the more Damned were left to gang up on the remaining.
Darien continued to battle more fiercely than he ever had before, battling as many at once as he could, but the strain of such overwhelming forces was beginning to take it toll them all, and he was no exception. He was battered, wounded and his energy had long since begun to wane.
At his back Jadeite and Rei were battling just as fiercely as he was, all the while Jadeite assured that no real harm came to Rei which had only succeeded in causing Jadeite more injury than he would normally have sustained without her on the battlefield.
Not to say that Rei was not a skilled warrior – they had all taken turns training her – but Jadeite was taking no chances with his mate. He was overprotective of his wife and mate. Normally the two bonded mates would have been at an advantage together on the battlefield due to their matelink, but since Diamond had once again managed to jam all mental links in the area – no doubt to prevent them from calling for aid – they were without their normal method of watching the other's back.
Even Darien had been forced to step in to protect the two more than once – or more to the point protect Rei so Jadeite hadn't been killed in doing so. An example of which was when an enemy had come at Rei's back and Jadeite hadn't had time to get his clawed paw up or his head around, so Jadeite had stepped into the line of fire, intending to take the blow.
Darien had taken the Damned warrior's head with a swipe of his own blood-soaked clawed paw before the blow had come down, but he had paid a price. One of the Damned he had been fighting at the time had taken advantage of his momentary distraction and had thrust his bladed into Darien's side, stabbing him under his front leg on his right side.
Darien had cried out in pain, a mere startled yelp, before he had whirled and retaliated by burying his paw deep into the Damned Anami, pushing and cutting through flesh and bone until he had pierced the heart. The Damned had fallen dead at his feet.
The wound Darien had sustained wasn't life threatening in that it had pierced anything vital – after centuries of battle Darien knew his vital points for both forms – but he was bleeding badly enough that he knew he would soon need to take a moment to tend to it.
But now that their own were falling Darien was beginning to doubt that he would have a chance to have that moment any time soon.
"Lord Darien!"
Darien whirled his head around in the direction of the shout to see one of his Anami allies pointing to something to his left, that the moment before had been behind him.
"The Princess!" The Anami cried urgently before he was forced to return to combat when a Damned Lycaon in wolf form attacked him head on with viscous sharp snapping teeth.
Darien was grateful to the Anami, but he could do nothing to aid him as Darien knew exactly what the Anami's warning had meant.
There was only one princess on this battlefield and a moment ago his back had been to her.
Darien whirled around in the air to land steadily and lightly on his feet in time to see exactly why the Anami had warned him.
Rei had somehow become separated from Jadeite, by no more than ten feet, but it was more than enough. Between his sister and Jadeite were more than half a dozen Damned, but it was not the Damned that had the fur on Darien's back stand up in horror.
Rei was battling two Damned who were trying to take her down by attacking her in union, but it was not them that had Darien surging forward through battling bodies – both human and wolf forms – and clashing swords in desperation to reach Rei in time before Diamond reached her.
Diamond was weaving unchallenged through the battlefield, heading straight for Rei with his sword held high in front of him and a sadistic gleefully-anticipating grin on his smug face.
With a ferocious howling roar Darien leapt into the air with all the strength in his legs, not intending for distance but height, enough that sent him flying over the heads of those between him and Rei, to land solidly between Rei and Diamond.
That he landed on top of a Damned Anami was purely good luck.
As the Damned crumpled beneath his massive crushing weight, Darien heard bones snap, flesh tare, and a scream of sheer agony, but Darien did not have time for him. The Damned was more than capable of healing from such injuries, especially if he managed to feed on fresh blood, but he would be down for a while, hopefully long enough for someone else to finish him off.
Diamond stopped in his tracks, but did not falter at the sight of the gigantic black wolf standing in front of him, blocking his path to the Lycaon Princess.
"I wondered how long it would take you to build up the courage to face me." Diamond sneered.
Darien raised his lip, baring his teeth and growled menacingly in reply.
"Look around you, prince. You're outnumbered, you've lost. Victory is mine." Diamond held out his arms indicating to what was happening around them but Darien's gaze did not leave Diamond. "Your defeat is at hand and to the victor goes the spoils."
Darien knew exactly what 'spoils' Diamond was referring too, and Darien wanted nothing more than to snap in reply that Diamond was dreaming if he believed that he was going to get anywhere near Serena.
Serena was HIS!
Darien roared in wolfish outrage but he did not attack. He was not an impulsive pup, he knew better than to let his enemy goad him into blindly attacking out of reckless emotion.
In response to the threatening sound, Diamond raised his sword slightly, wordlessly inviting Darien to attack him. Darien took a slow step forward, watching Diamond warily, his entire being focused on the self proclaimed King of the Damned, when without warning Darien was knocked off his feet. He was sent flying for several feet until he hit a group of warring Immortals, both Damned and his own, before he fell to the ground in a pile of human and furry limbs.
Darien had no idea what had happened – all he knew was that something had rammed into him, knocking him off his feet and sending him flying – but he knew he had to get up, he could not let his stunned state leave him unprepared and exposed lying dazed on the ground.
But before Darien could get his paws under him to rise up onto his four furry feet, a great weight fell down on his shoulder and neck, a single moment later a second bulky weight descended down on his back end, effectively pinning him to the hard ground beneath him.
The scent of Damned and fur reached his nose and Darien knew exactly what had happened. He instantly swore and berated himself. He should have known better! He should have kept an eye on what was happening around him, but he had been so focused on Diamond, as he had been for so long, that he hadn't had any focus left for what was happening around him.
On a battlefield doing so was just plain idiotic and reckless.
A Damned Lycaon – a big one, one of his own size by the weight of it – had barrelled straight into him at full speed, sending the both of them flying, and before Darien had been able to get to his feet, the Damned Lycaon, along with anther Damned Lycaon, had settled on top of him, applying their full weight to him and effectively pinning him to the ground.
How could he have been so stupid! He had been brought down like a warrior-in-training in his first practice fight!
Darien struggled with all his strength and know-how, but he could not get any leverage to either kick the Damned off of him or squirm out from beneath them. The two that held him knew what they were doing; by their scent Darien knew they were not young. They were experienced warriors and big ones too, although Darien had never come across these two before as their individual scents were not familiar.
Like the nature's wolf, his kind did not forget a scent.
A shadow fell across him and Darien ceased his struggling and looked up, knowing what he would see.
Diamond stood over him, looking down at him with a dark fascination.
"Did you really think with such a superior force at my disposal that I would unnecessarily go one on one with you?" Diamond asked inquisitively as he lowered himself to a crouch so he could stare better into Darien's eye.
Darien wanted to snap at him, but it would be a useless effort with how the Damned Lycaon had his head and upper body pinned.
"Everything you had is now mine and there is nothing more you can do about it." Diamond looked around them at the battlefield, only a few of Darien's forces still remained on their feet to fight but one by one they were being subdued or killed.
The battle was over. Diamond had finally won as he had known from the beginning that he would. He looked back down at the defeated Lycaon Prince.
"Your territory, your wealth, your mate, even your sister. They are all mine, as they were always meant to be."
And with that Diamond rose to his feet, turned his back and walked away, leaving Darien on the ground struggling with all his strength, but he just could not get free.
Diamond knew that as good as the prince was, the three Damned warriors – two Lycaon Damned that had him pinned and an Anami Damned who hovered over them, assuring the prince did not manage to free himself – he'd left to deal with the prince had been practising this move for over a century, training to bring the prince down when their moment finally came. They were his three best, they were big, brutally ruthless, intelligent and most importantly, absolutely loyal to him.
Diamond swelled with the dark joy and pride of victory. Finally his time had come and a new age was about to begin, for Immortal, Damned and Mortal alike, with him as the supreme king of the entire planet.
There was nothing standing in his way now the Lycaon Prince had met his defeat and now all would bow before him.
As Diamond strutted away, Darien sensed and scented the third Damned – an Anami Damned – before he saw him, standing over him with a long thick heavy silver sword in his hand and Darien knew that his time to fall had finally come for him.
He had been brought down not by Diamond but by dishonourable trickery. The three had brought him down swiftly and efficiently; as they had been trained to do. Darien realised that Diamond had never had any intention of fighting him one on one, he knew Diamond too well. This had been his plan from the beginning and Darien hadn't seen it coming until it had been too late.
And now everyone, Serena, Rei, his Beta's, his pack, were going to pay the price for his mistake.
The muscly Damned Anami raised the sword high, the hilt pointed directly at his eye, a split moment before it came crushing down towards his fury head.
Pain and white exploded in his head and Darien felt his entire body shift, returning to his human form, and darkness swelled, taking the place of the white light of agony.
As he slid into the waiting darkness where there was nothing but hollow peace, Darien looked up at the manor through the twisting fighting shadows of both human and wolf bodies.
In his eyes Darien felt the wetness of tears for the first time in so many centuries.
'Serena.'
And then there was only black empty darkness.
Serena felt utterly immoral and despicable for leaving the two injured Beta's to fight against such overwhelming numbers, even though she knew there was nothing she could do to help them, at least not in the way that they so desperately needed.
Serena ran with all the strength and speed she could muster through the manor. There was nothing she could do to help any of them in the battle, but there was something she could do to help them all, the pack and the aiding Anami.
To help her new family. It was all her fault! She had brought this fight right into Darien's home and every drop of the packs blood that was spilt was on her head, and so she was going to do absolutely everything she could to help them. Unfortunately, what she could do to help them was very little; she was a young mortal woman surrounded by fierce warrior Immortals who had no special skills what-so-ever.
To say that she was out of her league would be the understatement of the year.
Serena reached Darien's office in less than a minute and a half but that time had seemed to last an hour to her. She hadn't been able to move fast enough no matter how hard she had pushed herself. She had hated even the wasted time it had taken her to slow to turn each corner and descend each staircase.
There was most likely a phone closer to their bedroom than the one in Darien's office, but Serena wasn't wiling to waste time going from room to room looking for one when she knew there was one in Darien's office.
Serena knew for a fact that there was a phone jack in both Darien's room and the library in the room next to the bedroom, but no phone. She suspected that Darien had removed them when he'd first brought her to the manor in order to prevent her from calling anyone for help in the beginning.
The damn Lycaon Prince thought of everything, except he hadn't put them back when the danger of her running from him had passed.
Then again, he'd had greater concerns since then.
Serena burst through Darien's office doors, but took the time to close them again. She was not going to make it any easier for the Damned to locate her than it already was. Between their superhuman senses of smell, hearing and sight, closing the door might only gain her a moment or two, but each and every second was precious – single second might mean the difference between failure and success. At least with the ruckus of the battle outside would provide her some cover from their superhuman ears.
There on Darien's desk was her target, the gleaming sleek black telephone. It was her only hope of calling for help, and there was only one person she knew of who could provide that help.
However, Serena had no idea what Andrew's number was, and she wasn't going to waste time searching Darien's office for it. She had to get word out before she was found which could be at any moment so she had to hurry.
With no other alternative, Serena dialled the number she knew best by heart, her fingers flying over the dialling pad with hurried practised ease. With any luck she wouldn't even be heard if she kept her voice down to a whisper as the noise from the battle was near deafening, even from within the office.
Serena listened as the phone on the other end rang seven times before it was picked up, with a cheerful and polite, "Hello?"
Serena mentally breathed in relief, from not just the call being answered, but at hearing the familiar warm voice of one of her best friends. "Mina," she didn't waste any time in giving her name; Mina knew her voice as well as Serena knew hers. "I need you to do something for me. It's really important and extremely urgent; it's life or death."
"Serena?!" Mina squealed fretfully. "What's wrong-?!"
"No questions, Mina. Please, I'm begging you." Serena said quickly, cutting her off. "I need you to do this as quickly as you possibly can. Every moment you waste could mean my life."
With only as much depth as was absolutely needed, Serena gave the instructions and directions as quickly as she could, being sure to repeat the overall basic instruction at the end.
Serena trusted Mina as much as she trusted Darien; Mina would do as she asked, even without knowing the reasons why Serena was asking something so bizarre of her.
Serena only just finished giving Mina the final instruction when she heard muffled voices in the hallway just outside the door. She instinctively knew the voices belonged too Damned soldiers from the chillingly malicious tones.
Serena froze. They couldn't know about her phone call! If they knew there was no telling what they would do, they might even find some way to go after Mina and stop her!
As silently as she could while being hasty, Serena returned the receiver to its cradle, snatched Darien's letter opener off the desk – it actually looked more like a dagger than a letter opener, it was even sharp – and slid under the desk, pulling the chair silently back inward to better hide her just as the two doors slammed thunderously open.
Serena wasn't a naïve idiot; she knew they could smell her, not to mention that they could probably hear her frantic heartbeat, but she had to make it appear as if she was in the office for the purpose of hiding, not for calling for help. She couldn't let them suspect that she had gotten a call for help out; if they discovered her secret then it would only make things worse for the entire pack.
"She's in here! I can smell her!"
Serena froze in horror as she recognised the cruel voice, she'd heard it before.
Sapphire!
No doubt, whatever the outcome, it would be etched into her nightmares along with Diamond's sadistic voice for a long time to come.
If she lived to sleep again that was.
Without warning, or even hearing them approach, the desk she was hiding beneath disappeared from around her in a black blur, only the be thrown across the room until it hit the wall with a splintering crash. The desk exploded from the force of the impact, sending pieces of timber flying, while the bulk of it fell to the floor with a loud crashing sound, along with large chunks of wall plaster, while the desks' contents flew in all directions.
Paper was raining down around her like large white square feathers after a pillow fight.
Serena tore her wide eyes from the ruined desk, sprang to her feet and whirled to face Sapphire and the two Damned he had with him as she slowly back away from them, holding the letter opener high in front of her like Darien would hold his sword.
Sapphire spared a brief glance at the letter opener and abruptly burst into darkly amused laughter. "Just how useful do you think that's going to be against us mortal female?"
Considering that the telephone was on the floor on the other side of the room, the receiver lying upright on the floor beeping the familiar tone of the busy signal, Serena considered it a safe bet that Sapphire had underestimated her so much just because she wasn't an Immortal – or maybe it was because she was a female as he had made a point of pointing out – that it hadn't even entered his mind that she might have actually called for help.
No wonder the guy was a lackey. Diamond was ruthlessly cunning and clever; Sapphire was single-minded and constantly underestimated his opponents.
Serena gave silent thanks to the heavens as she tensed, ready to fight them no matter how feebly. She had succeeded in getting a call for help out, now all she needed to do was try and buy some time for Mina to follow her instructions.
Hastily scouring her mind for something she could use to do just that, Serena glared steadily at Sapphire, refusing to give any of them the satisfaction of seeing her fear. "Darien thinks you've got a spy here in the manor."
Sapphire leaned his head to the side inquisitively, studying her with his black eyes. "And what makes him think that?"
"How else could Diamond stay one step ahead of him?" Serena told him, knowing Sapphire was the kind of male who wouldn't let an opportunity to rub something in someone's face pass.
Sapphire chuckled, greatly amused, the other Damned joining in briefly, before Sapphire answered her with gloating triumph. "There's no spy. Our king needs none. He's been one step ahead of your pathetic Darien because he is of superior intelligence. He knew exactly what Darien would do before even he did. That little trick he tried to get you out of the country was obvious to my king."
At least that was one small piece of good news for them. There was no spy; Darien's pack and those he kept around him were all loyal to him, as Serena had witnessed. It was only that Diamond knew Darien so well after so long of being hunted by him that Diamond was able to predict Darien's actions.
Serena scoffed derisively. "Yeah, right. He just got lucky, didn't he? There was something that gave it away, wasn't there? A trace of our scent or something like that. Or maybe you were planning on ambushing both the convoy and the decoy. That's why you weren't there in the beginning, wasn't it? You weren't on that battlefield were you? You ambushed Rei and me in the trees when we were making a run for it just after arriving." She grinned cheekily at him. "You were at the other ambush, the one you thought we really used, weren't you? But then you received word that we weren't there."
Sapphire snarled angrily and Serena had her answer. Diamond wasn't half of what Darien was. It had been by sheer luck that he had gotten to the other ambush in time to prevent their escape. It had probably been sheer chance that they'd run into Diamond's path on his way from the decoy.
But that wasn't important now. Serena had done all she could to bring help to her pack, now all she could do was somehow find a way to buy time for them all until help arrived. She wasn't a superhuman Immortal shape shifter but she would never let that stop her from doing everything and anything she could to protect her pack; they were her family now and she would never let anything happen to them, not when there was something – no matter how small or insignificant – she could do.
As Sapphire advanced on her, ignoring the weapon in her hand as if it wasn't even there, Serena knew her attempt to stall for time with Sapphire had reached its end.
The hope for them all rested with Mina and the girls now.
The deadline for the next chapter is mid January, but it will most likely be the last chapter so I can still hit my end of January deadline for having A Wolf's Cry completed.